Final gathering for Democracy Project programme

A group of East Clare pupils participating in a Democracy Project aimed at inspiring active European citizenship, solidarity and tolerance among young Europeans held their final gathering this week as part of the programme.
The Democracy Project was the first of its kind in Ireland and followed the EU Youth Policy directive encouraging involvement by young people with the democratic process and interaction with decision-makers.
The project involved nine pupils from Scariff Community College and two pupils of Scariff Youth Reach and was run in conjunction with Leargas Youth in Action Programme, Fishbowl Youth and Binario Uno in Italy.
Together with two youth organisations in Rome, Nomentano-Liceo Scientifico Statale and Binario Uno, the pupils worked together over the past two years, where they learned about each of their school systems and how democracy plays its part in these systems.
During the course of the project, delegates from the Democracy Project in East Clare and those in Italy carried out exchanges. Initially, there was an advance planning trip to Rome, which was followed by two other visits by the pupils to Italy and two visits to Clare by the Italian delegation.
Following this project, the information they gathered and documented was compiled into the ultimate findings.
This past weekend, the East Clare group were joined by Professor Galo from the Italian school Nomentano-Liceo Scientifico Statale, two leaders from Binario Uno Damiano and Pietro and four young people from the Italian youth group involved in the project.
Collectively at Scariff Community College, the two groups held an evening of discussion and presentation based on the Democracy Project. Guest speakers included Glen Guilfoyle from Clare Youth services, Michael McNamara from Scariff, who has been active in the Middle East and developing countries, and deputy Timmy Dooley, who each offered their take on democracy. Through the use of an interpreter, Professor Galo also spoke on his views on democracy.
The weekend focused on the evaluation of the whole programme and the group assessed the research that was carried out and evaluated it. Much of this evaluation will go into a national Leargas publication, which will be compiled and issued to youth groups thereafter. This booklet will outline how the group carried out its research and the tools it used to develop that research and the outcomes.
Speaking about the final event as part of the project, Fishbowl Youth leader Alan McMahon said, “On Saturday night, a presentation was given by the young people and the three invited guest speakers individually spoke on their own perspective of democracy. The presentation was given in three forms. We showed a short documentary that was done by the group which explained the intercultural exchange, the benefits of it and how it works. This documentary was solely based on this Democracy Project and was compiled from interviews with teachers and footage of the activities in Rome and Ireland. There was also a Power Point presentation going through the variety of steps and how we reach certain conclusions and carried it forward. That was given by two of the participants. We also had a song that was written by three of the Democracy Group.”
On Sunday night, the pupils were presented with a certificate and a specially designed hoodie and the Italian pupils departed on Monday morning.
Speaking about what was learned and progress made in relation to democracy in the school setting, Mr McMahon said, “Things have moved along since the project, democracy is a long road and although we are in a better place now it is not the end of the road, there are more steps to be taken on that road. It is not only the young people caught in a quagmire but the teachers themselves are also caught within the system. Sometimes it is not a case of the individuals needing to be changed but the system that needs changing. The system has not always served the individuals involved and they are the ones who can bring about the changing of that system. I believe that’s what the young people got out of it themselves. From our point of view, these young people have a tremendous grip on democracy. I believe they had really got a sense of it that they will take into their lives. It’s been a very interesting project and I must commend the schools on working with us on this project.”